A draper’s bill presented to the overseers of Brampton listed three items as ‘wild boar stuff’. What exactly was ‘wild boar stuff’ and was it really made from ‘wild boar’? ‘Stuff’ was a generic name given to cloth used for making garments. Often the fabric was made from wool, or a mixture of wool and other fibres.
The OED defines ‘hog
wool’, as ‘wool from a yearling sheep; the fleece produced by a sheep’s first
shearing’. The term originated in the mid-eighteenth century.
John Luccock’s 1809 essay on wool notes, ‘The hog wool, or
the first fleece produced by a lamb more than a year old, was greatly esteemed
under the old modes of manufacture; and had not the machinery recently adopted
rendered it desirable to obtain staples of a uniform length, which is not so
easily effected in this class of fleeces, it would still maintain its
pre-eminence, as it does in all places where the yarn is spun by hand’.[1] Might this explanation mean that ‘wild boar
stuff’ was actually derived from hand spun hog wool?
The Journals of the House of Lords vol. 60 contains a discussion on South Down wool, noting the increase in demand for hog wool: ‘All the Cloth made from the better Sorts of Foreign Wools have a more felting Property in them. That (producing a sample of Worsted Stuff) is made of South Down Hogs, probably South Down and Merinos together.’[2]
One suggestion is that it might be wool from the mangalitsa pig. This long-haired breed was not developed until the mid-nineteenth century by cross-breeding wild boar with Hungarian domesticated pigs, so cannot have been used to make the ‘wild boar stuff’ listed in the draper’s bill. Equally, there seems to be no reference to the use of its fleece for textile production. Another suggestion is that the ‘boar’ might refer to the colour of the textile, or perhaps the texture.
Any further information on ‘wild boar stuff’ would be welcomed.
John Styles adds that in Florence Montgomery’s Textiles in America ‘Wildbore’ [spellings varied] is defined as a fairly coarse worsted used for women’s gowns. ‘Stuff’ at this period generally means a worsted fabric, the sort of thing made either at Norwich or in the West Riding.
Sources
William Beck, The
Drapers’ Dictionary: a manual of textile fabrics, their history and applications
(London: The Warehousemen and Draper’s Journal Office, 1882).
Polly Hamilton, ‘Haberdashery for use in dress, 1550–1800’
(unpublished PhD, University of Wolverhampton, 2009)
Journals of the House of
Lords, vol. 60 (1828), Appendix 3
Wilhelm W. Kohl and Peter Toth, The
Mangalitsa Pig (2014)
Oxford English
Dictionary
[1]
John Luccock, An Essay on Wool, Containing a Particular Account of the English
Fleece (London: J. Harding, 1809), 133.
[2]Journals of the House of Lords, vol.
60 (1828), Appendix 3, 84.
Voucher PR60/21/13/5/52, 17 September 1817, Expenses to take Christopher Crozier from Carlisle to Newcastle
Christopher Crozier was a blacksmith by trade like his father William, and his brother William (1783-1856). Christopher and William were baptised on the same day 2 February 1783. Their mother was Arabella or Isabella Hetherington. Two other brothers Joseph (1790-1842) and Quintin (1788-1823) were also smiths: Joseph a blacksmith, and Quintin a whitesmith. All operated within the town of Brampton. Christopher also had 3 sisters: Mary (1784-1851), who married John Aikin; Isabella (b.1795) and Margaret (b.1798).[1]
A voucher for Brampton parish dated 17 September 1817 although torn and missing the lower half gives an insight into a brief period in Christopher’s life.[2] Expenses had been incurred by an unknown person for the taking of Christopher from Carlisle to Newcastle. They include:- ⦁ Burns Coach to Carlisle 2s 6d Driver 6d [Coach Carlisle to Newcastle[3] ⦁ Supper 1s 6d Ale 1s ⦁ Breakfast 1s 3d Gin 4d ⦁ Paid Wm Jackson Jailor 8s 6d ⦁ Turn key for Irons 2s ⦁ Hector Glendinning [blacksmith] for Iron Crozier 2s ⦁ Coach Fare to Newcastle £1.12s. ⦁ Bread cheese & Ale for Crozier at Carlisle 1s 2d
The assumption from the items on the voucher is that Christopher had committed a crime. Court records (15 April 1817) show that he was accused of larceny (theft), but received no punishment.[4 ] The Carlisle Patriot gives a little more information reporting that Christopher had stolen some bank notes and when asked how he would be tried replied ‘By the Spirit‘. No further court proceedings took place as he was considered not to be of sound mind.[5 ] It is possible that owing to his state of mind and his family being unable to help him that Christopher was placed in safe custody. Guidelines of the Safe Custody of Insane Persons Act 1800 allowed for this.[6]
Another voucher dated two years earlier (2 December 1815) is for eleven weeks board for Christopher Crozier at a cost of £4.8s.[7] The other named parties being Messrs Pow and Cook (grocers in Mosley Street, Newcastle) and Drs Wood and Glenton, which suggests this is not the first time that Christopher has had some aberration.[8] In 1817 there was no mental health facility near to Brampton, the nearby city of Carlisle’s Garlands Hospital not being opened until 1862. The Asylum at Warden Close, Newcastle was the nearest, where Dr J. Wood and Dr F. Glenton were physicians.
Examination of military records reveals that Christopher, like his brother William, joined the army on 26 September 1807 serving in the 1st Battalion, 5th Foot Regiment. The Peninsular War saw Wellington’s Anglo-Portuguese force besiege Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain from 7-20 January 1812. One of those injured was Christopher, suffering a gunshot wound to the leg on 19 January 1812. He was considered unfit for further service and discharged on 1 April 1812. [9] Whether he suffered any mental affliction as well as physical injury as a result of his five and half years army service can only be speculated upon.
Voucher /21/13/5/114 5 January 2019 13 weeks Board for Christopher Crozier in the Lunatic Hospital
Problems with overcrowding at Warden Close Asylum in Newcastle may explain why another voucher for grocers, Pow and Cook dated 5 January 1818 is for 13 weeks board at a cost of £5.4s ‘for Christopher Crozier in the lunatic hospital. [10] Thomas Bells’s name appears on the back of the voucher. [11]
One more voucher headed ‘Parish of Brampton to Thos Bell’ suggests that Christopher recovered enough to return to his family in Brampton.[12] It is for 15s 9d ‘Expenses when C Crozier returned’ on 11 July 1818. Christopher’s and Joseph’s names appear in the 1828-29 trade directories as blacksmiths at Back Street, Brampton, suggesting Christopher was either working or attempting to do so.[13]
Christopher Crozier died in 1839 his brother Quintin had already died in 1823. Brothers Joseph and William appear on the 1841 Census in Brampton, Joseph still a blacksmith with his wife Mary Moffit, William (who had also been injured during his army service in the 21st Foot Regiment) an Army Pensioner with his wife Susan.[14] After Joseph died in 1842 his widow Mary made a living in Brampton as a publican .One establishment she ran being the Jolly Butcher. Prior to 1841, William his eldest brother was found guilty of steeling sovereigns from Thomas Knott and was sentenced to transportation for life in March 1836, but this was later commuted to a 6 month prison sentence. He died in 1856. and by 1861 his widow Susan was an inmate in Brampton Workhouse. Mary, his sister, moved to Newcastle with her surviving children after her husband John Aikin’s death. [15]
Footnote Dr James Wood died in 1822,[16 ]and Dr Frederick Glenton 1824.[17] Whilst they had their supporters, [18] in 1824 Newcastle City Council on advice given in a report into the running of Warden Close Lunatic Asylum concluded that it had been run as a private asylum for the benefit of the physicians and action was taken to redress this. The morals of treatment turned towards non restraint, provision of more space , land for gardens and access to sewing, music and reading. It eventually closed around 1855.[19]
Sources [1] Cumbria Archives, PR 60/2, Brampton, St Martin Parish Register of Baptisms [2] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/5/52 Brampton Poor Law Voucher, 7 September 1817 [3] Carlisle Patriot, 26 April 1817 [4] England & Wales Crime, Prisons Punishment 1770- 1935 Cumberland Court records, 15 April 1817, accessed at www.findmypast.co.uk, 20 April 2019 [5] Carlisle Patriot, 19 April 1817 [6] www.oldbaileyonline.org, accessed 20 April 2019 [7] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/5/22, Brampton Poor Law Voucher, 2 December 1815 [8] Tyne Mercury, Northumberland & Durham & Cumberland Gazette, 17 January 1804 [9] The National Archives, Kew, War Office Armed Forces Judge Advocate General and Related Bodies, 1807-1813, WO 121/129/134, Christopher Crozier, accessed at www.findmypast.co.uk, 20 April 2019 [10] Tyne and Wear Archive Service Catalogues, H O S N, St Nicholas Hospital Gosforth, 1829-2005 [11] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/5/114, Brampton Poor Law Voucher, 5 January 1818 [12] Cumbria Archive Service, PR60/21/13/65, Brampton Poor Law Voucher, 11 July 1818 [13] Parson W. M. & White, W. E., History, Directory & Gazetteer of the Counties of Cumberland & Westmorland (1829) . Pigot and Co., National Commercial Directory Cheshire- Northumberland for 1828-29 (J Pigot & Co). [14] The National Archives, Kew, War office Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General and Related Bodies, WO 97/1184C/227, William Crozier, 1821, accessed at www.findmypast.co.uk, 20 April 2019 [15] Carlisle Patriot 10 April 1846, p 2-3. Carlisle Journal 26 March 1836 p 2. www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed 20 April 2019 [16] Tyne Mercury, Northumberland & Durham & Cumberland Gazette 11 February 1822 [17] Newcastle Courant 10 April 1824 [18] Tyne Mercury, Northumberland & Durham & Cumberland Gazette 19 February 1822 [19] Tyne and Wear Archive Service Catalogues H O S N, St Nicholas Hospital Gosforth 1829-2005
This is a work in progress subject to change with new research
Two vouchers have come to light showing Peter Burn supplying
seeds and plants to Brampton workhouse. The first from 1816 includes early
cabbage plants, onion, Welsh onion and leek seeds and ‘green plants’. The
second from 1819 included early cauliflower. Such information adds to the
current understanding of pauper diets which, derived from workhouse dietaries
or daily allowances, often do not specify vegetables other than potatoes.
Even though Burn’s bills to the overseers were modest in
amount, totalling £1 5s 6d, his business was evidently profitable as he held
more than £1000 of stock in the Carlisle City and District Banking Company.[1] In
1851 he employed two men and two boys.[2] He
was still working in 1871, employing five boys.[3]
Burn is listed in Parson and White’s 1829 directory as a
gardener with premises in Front Street.[4] By
1851 he was living in Church Lane with his wife Margaret.[5]
Burn was born in 1792 in Bellingham or Ridley,
Northumberland.[6]
His wife Margaret (née Johnson)
was born in 1797 at Alston, Cumberland.[7] She
may have been his second wife. The 1841 Census for Brampton does not list Margaret
Burn, but does list a Peter Burn, and children Thomas (15), Peter (10),
Elizabeth (20), Sarah (15) and Margaret (14). As was the practice at the time,
most of these ages have been rounded. A quick search through FindMyPast and
Ancestry show that a Peter and Sarah Burn’s children were Thomas (bap. 13 September
1822), Peter (bap. 8 September 1830), Elizabeth (bap. 20 August 1819), Sarah (bap.
13 June 1824) and Margaret (bap. 17 November 1826).[8] Sarah
Burn the elder died in 1838.[9]
Living with Peter and Margaret in 1871 were his widowed brother Bryan, a retired railway guard, and two unmarried granddaughters, Sarah aged 22 (a housekeeper), and Elizabeth aged 15.[10]
Peter Burn died on 19 February 1877. His will contains three codicils and was proved at Carlisle on 26 April by two of his executors; his son Peter, a draper, and John Armstrong, a gardener. Burn’s effects were under £600.[11]
This is a work in progress, subject to change as new research is conducted.
[1]
Anon, A List of the County Banks of
England and Wales, Private and Proprietary (London: M. A. Marchant, 1838),
frontispiece, 138.
[2]
TNA, HO 107/2427, 1851 Census; RG 9/3907, 1861 Census.
Brampton was provided with a medicine dispensing service by its physicians and by the town chemist, Lancelot Townley (c.1750-1824). His daughter Elizabeth (1791- 1865) followed him into the business as possibly did another daughter, Hannah (1799-1837). Elizabeth’s and Hannah’s siblings were William (b.1781), Jane (1783-1855) Michael (1784-1808), George (b.1787), Mary (1789-1790), George (b.1794), and Sarah (b.1798).[1] The involvement of Mary Holmes (c.1754-1819) wife of Lancelot or their other children who survived into adulthood in the business near Front Street, is not known.
Peter Barfoot and John Wilkes 1797 directory lists a Mr Townley as a Druggist. [2] In Jollies’ 1811 directory L Townley Druggist is named as a trader in Brampton. [3]. It is assumed this is Lancelot Townley. His bill to Brampton the overseers from 3 March 1817 to 18 March 1818 is for a Physic 3d, and three lots of medicines priced at 10d, 9d and 6d respectively. The total amounting to £0. 2s. 4d.[4]
Mary (Holmes) Townley died in 1819 and Lancelot in 1824. [5] Looking at the trade directories it appears that their daughter Elizabeth has taken on the role of chemist on her own, but in his will Lancelot Townley left everything equally to his two daughters Elizabeth and Hannah. The will stipulates: ‘To my two daughters Elizabeth and Hannah my household furniture, stock in trade together with all my money and securities for money’. [6] It is conceivable that Hannah entered the family business and that they worked together perhaps following their father’s recipes. Preparation of qualified doctors’ prescriptions may have been undertaken, although they may have had no formal qualifications themselves. Perhaps they learned their trade from their father. Until the 1868 Pharmacy Act training for chemists had not been standardized. They may even have been seen as a competitor by the doctors.
There are no newspaper notices as to what they may have been selling or whether they sold non-pharmaceutical goods. Their father’s bill is for the overseers and it is the only one found so far. This may be an indication that their pool of customers came the less well off, as paying doctors’ fees was not an option for them. Equally, many chemists and druggists served a predominantly middle-class clientele. By 1829 Elizabeth had competition from Henry Dobson and others who traded as chemist’s and also selling tea, oils and colours.[7]
Hannah Townley died in 1837, however Elizabeth Townley can be found on the 1841 Census at Brampton Lane still trading as a Chemist. She is absent from subsequent trade directories. Elizabeth’s sister Jane , married to clockmaker William Richardson, died in 1855. His business near the Horse Head Inn which became the Nag’s Head[8] Subsequent census returns reveal that Elizabeth provided herself with an income by offering lodgings, described asa lodging house keeper on the 1861 Census. This was a common practice for many women. Elizabeth Townley’s niece Mary Townley died in 1864.[9] She left her assets to her half-sister Elizabeth Holmes Latimer of Townley Place and Stamford House, her stepfather William Richardson and aunt Elizabeth Townley. It reveals she owned property herself at the West End of Brampton which provided her with an income. Along with her half-sister Elizabeth Holmes Richardson (Latimer) the other witness to her will was John Pears, chemist.
Elizabeth Townley died a year later in 1865, but appears to have left no will.[10]
A modest headstone commemorates Hannah, Elizabeth and their niece Mary Townley at Brampton Old Churchyard adjacent to a larger columned headstone to Mary’s half sister Elizabeth Holmes Richardson (1823-1888) and her husband William Latimer (1831-1865), solicitor.
Sources [1] ancestry.co.uk, accessed 11 April 2019 [2]Peter Barfoot and John Wilkes Universal British Directory, Vol 5 (London: c.1797) [3] F. Jollie, Cumberland Guide and Directory (1811) [4] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/5/58, Brampton Overseers’ Voucher, March 1817 to March 1818 [5] Carlisle Journal, 6 March 1819 [6] Cumbria Archives, PROB/1814/W399, Will of Lancelot Townley 1824 [7] W. Parson and W. White Directory and Gazetteer Cumberland and Westmorland (1829) [8] Cumbria Archives, Brampton Monumental Inscriptions (Cumbria Family History Society) Cumbria Libraries VF B-BRA/9 Penfold John, The Clockmakers’ of Brampton Set 7 1974, in Papers on the history of Brampton and District [9] Cumbria Archives, PROB/1864/WCOD293, Will of Mary Townley 1864 [10]Carlisle Journal, 17 March 1865
Hannah, Elizabeth and Mary Townley (niece) Headstone in the foreground Brampton Old Churchyard Taken M. Dean 7 April 2019
The Cumberland vouchers make frequent reference to the purchase of blue duffle.William Beck’s The Drapers’ Dictionary cites Booth’s Analytical English Dictionary of 1835 which describes duffle as ‘a stout milled flannel, but of greater depth and differently dressed. It may be either perched or friezed (napped), and is sold in all colours’. The name is generally thought to have derived from Duffel (now in Belgium).
In The Compleat
English Tradesman Daniel Defoe notes that ‘The manufacturing towns of
Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland is employ’d in the coarser manufactures
of those counties, such as Kersies, half-thicks, yarn stockings, Duffelds,
Ruggs, Turkey-work chairs and many other useful things’.
What was the blue duffle being used for? In all likelihood it was used to make coats or cloaks for the poor, perhaps as a type of uniform for the workhouse, or as part of a set of clothes provided for parish apprentices. Joan Lane notes that clothing for apprentices, including particular items that identified them with specific trades, was a common requirement, and that factory apprentices were expected to attend church looking reasonable. She continues that male parish apprentices ‘received a shirt, waistcoat, breeches, stockings and shoes, with a coat and hat for outdoors. A girl was given a petticoat, one or two shifts … with a gown, apron, stockings and shoes … Coats and cloaks were hardly ever bought for female pauper apprentices’.[1]
Five news items provide further information on the uses of blue
duffle:
Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s Advertiser, 14 March 1787, described how John Bell, aged 17 or 18, had run away from his apprenticeship from shoemaker George Sugding, in Workington. He was wearing a turned blue coat and vest, black breaches and a woollen hat. At the same time another apprentice, Jonathan Atch, aged 17, also absconded. He was wearing a blue upper jacket, a double-breasted blue vest and blue breaches, all duffle.
Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s Advertiser, 23 May 1797, detailed the elopement of Daniel Hodgson and Mary Johnston, the wife of James Johnston. Johnston, aged 67, was reported as wearing a white thickset coat, and a blue and white striped waistcoat. Johnston, ‘a stout made woman … pitted with the small pox’, was wearing a a dark stamped gown and bed gown, a brown or blue quilted petticoat, black worsted stockings , a blue duffle cloak, and a black silk bonnet.
Twenty dozen pairs of stockings and ‘some webs of blue
duffle and blue worsted stuff’ were stolen from Bridekirk manufactory, Annan. Carlisle Patriot, 14 March 1818.
Carlisle Journal, 7 August 1841, William Dixon gave evidence against John Cope for stealing a jacket belonging to Isaac Sherwin of Aspatria. When apprehended in Maryport, Cope was wearing a blue duffle jacket beneath which was the stolen jacket. Cope was found guilty and sentenced to six months hard labour.
In 1843 the Carlisle
Journal reported an inquest. The headless body of a man was washed ashore
opposite Eskmeals. The clothing consisted of a blue and white striped shirt, a
red flannel shirt, a blue duffle jacket, and white woollen stockings.
\lsdpriority
Sources
Cumbria Archives Service, Carlisle, PR60/21/13/3/ no item number, Brampton Overseers’ Voucher, settled 31 May 1795
Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s Advertiser, 14 March 1787
Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s Advertiser, 23 May 1797
Carlisle Patriot, 14 March 1818.
Carlisle Journal, 7 August 1841
Carlisle Journal, 9 December 1843
William Beck, The
Drapers’ Dictionary: a manual of textile fabrics, their history and
applications (London: The Warehousemen and Draper’s Journal Office, 1882),
106
Daniel
Defoe, The Compleat English Tradesman
vol II, (London: printed for Charles
Rivington, 1727), 59–60
Joan Lane, Apprenticeship
in England, 1600–1914 (London: UCL Press, 1996), 27–29
[1]
Joan Lane, Apprenticeship in
England, 1600–1914 (London: UCL Press, 1996), 29.
George Graham was a surgeon in Brampton. During his working life he encountered both the poor and the non-poor. His name appears on voucher PR60/21/13/5 which relates predominantly to child deliveries with fees ranging from 15s to £1.5s. As one item on the bill relates to the Workhouse it is assumed that the mothers were poor.[1] The mothers are referred to by the prefix ‘Miss’ and a surname. One is simply referred to as ‘a pauper in Brampton’. Excepting a Miss Robb or Ross and the pauper however, it is possible to determine who some of those concerned are.
Cumbria Archives Service, PR60/21/13/5, Brampton Overseers’ Voucher, Dr Graham, 22 Mar. 1816
Four have been identified: Robert, illegitimate son of Margaret Dobson 11 March 1814, Forrest Head. Ann, illegitimate daughter of Ann Atkinson, spinster, 5 May 1815, Brampton; George, illegitimate son of Sarah Taylor, weaver, 5 November 1815 Brampton; and Margaret, illegitimate daughter of Margaret Wallace, 12 January 1816, Brampton.
From parish registers, four have been identified: Robert, illegitimate son of Margaret Dobson, 11 March 1814, Forrest Head; Ann, illegitimate daughter of Ann Atkinson, spinster, 5 May 1815, Brampton; George, illegitimate son of Sarah Taylor, weaver, 5 November 1815, Brampton; and Margaret, illegitimate daughter of Margaret Wallace, 12 January 1816, Brampton.[2]
Other vouchers bearing Dr Graham’s name are for medication but it is not clear who they are for. Medicines include, Cream Tartar 4d, Cordial Mixture 3s, Diuretic Mixture 3s, Bronchial Mixture 3s, Opening Powder 6d, and Tonic Powders 5s. Although the precise ingredients are not stipulated, Dr T J Graham’s Modern Domestic Medicine (1837) may give some idea as to the ingredients used.[3]
Dr Graham was born at Bankhead, Canonbie, Dumfriesshire on 15 October 1783 in the Esk Basin. This was once known as the ‘Debatable Land’ between England and Scotland where the Graham, Armstrong, Bell and Elliot families administered the law. George Graham had five siblings: three sisters Sarah (1777-1862), Janet (1778-1841) Margaret or Peggy (1786-1836), and brothers William (1781- 1849) and John (1789- 1838). Sarah married farmer Richard Johnstone (1773-1873) and Janet also married a farmer, John Hope (1779 -1866). [4] George’s parents Peter Graham (1740-1825) and Ann Nichol (1747-1831) left the farm at Bankhead around 1790 and moved the short distance to Cubbyhill near Longtown.[5] George became a Surgeon, John became a silk mercer in London, and William took over the farm.
Dr Graham gained his Surgical Diploma in Edinburgh and began practice initially in Longtown Cumberland aged 23. His name is amongst those balloted for the Militia but he did not serve, a substitute took his place[6]
Working Life Dr Graham began practice in Brampton in 1811. His name can be found in the 1829 trade directory at Market Place. [7] He was one of three surgeons in Brampton; the others being T. Gilbanks, H. Dobson and W. Fleming. In 1834 he was joined by an assistant William Armstrong (1812-1886), also born in Canonbie. Dr Graham purchased a property in Market Place in the centre of Brampton for £400 in 1836 and began a Doctors’ Partnership with Dr Armstrong in 1839. [8] They can be both found on the 1841 Census at Front Street, Brampton. They were joined in the practice by John Graham(1820-1893) George Graham’s nephew, one of his brother William’s 12 children. John Graham continued in the practice till 1861 when he sold up to leave for London along with his wife.[9] William Armstrong continued to be involved in Brampton affairs, becoming Justice of the Peace for Cumberland and Chairman of the Brampton Poor Relief Fund in 1878. He died at Garden Terrace, Brampton, 5 August 1886.[10]
Brampton Stocks, 2019
Some of Dr Graham’s work involved the administration of justice. Local newspapers give an insight into what is hoped were the less common events in his working life. In 1836 he ordered the release of a Jwhonnie Steeson (sic) from his punishment in the stocks Market Place, Brampton. The event was recalled by local poet Peter Burn (1831- 1902).[11] In 1841 at the trial of Jane Hogg and her mother Mary Hogg for the murder of Jane’s newborn child, Dr Graham gave evidence. Jane and Mary Hogg were both found guilty but the death sentence was commuted. The Jury asked for leniency for Jane. Lord Chief Justice Denman said of her mother Mary ‘if I were perfectly convinced that she had destroyed the child for the purpose of saving the expense of keeping it … I should have no choice but to leave her to the executioner’. [12] He felt that all the facts were not known. Jane was given a life sentence, Mary was transported on 2 May 1842 to Van Diemen’s Land never to return.[13]
All three doctors were together two years before Dr George Graham’s death at the celebration of the Earl of Carlisle’s birthday at the Howard Arms, Brampton.[14]
Doctor Graham’s death is reported in the Carlisle Patriot, 2 July 1847: ‘At Brampton on the 26th ult George Graham Esq surgeon aged 63 much respected by a wide circle of acquaintances‘. [15] He was buried at Lanercost, two miles from Brampton.[16]
This is a work in progress and subject to change with new research
Sources [1] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/5, Brampton Overseers’ Vouchers, 22 March 1816 [2] Cumbria Archives, PR60/7, Brampton, St Martin’s Parish. Register of Baptisms, 1813-1835 [3] Thomas J. Graham, Modern Domestic Medicine. A popular treatise illustrating the symptoms, causes and distinction and correct treatment of the diseases incident to the human frame; embracing the modern improvement in medicine (7th edn., 1837), https;// books.google.co.uk, accessed 14 Mar. 2019. [4] www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, accessed 14 Mar. 2019. [5] Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society, Canonbie Parish Church Monumental Inscriptions (2006). 6] Cumbria Archives, Q/MIL. Militia Liable Books, 1690-1831, (1806-1812) [7] W. Parson and W. White. Directory and Gazetteer Cumberland and Westmorland (1829). [8] Cumbria Archives, DCART/B/2/19/2, Deeds and Probates re: Clarke’s property in Market Street[Place] purchased by George Graham Surgeon of Brampton (B1); Carlisle Patriot, 10 November 1838; Carlisle Journal, 12 April 1843; Carlisle Patriot, 13 August 1856 [9] Carlisle Journal, 11 January 1861 [10] Carlisle Journal, 10 August 1886 [11] Carlisle Journal, 20 January 1893 [12] Carlisle Journal, 7 August 1841 [13] www. convictrecords.com.au, accessed 14 Mar. 2019. [14] Carlisle Journal 20, September 1845 [15] Carlisle Patriot, 2 July 1847 [16] Cumbria Archives, Carlisle, PR 121/9, Lanercost, St Mary Magdalene Parish Burial Register, 1813-1870
Voucher PR 10/V/10/6 March 6 1785 payment to Rebecca Dixon
The poor of Skelton received relief from funds made available from charging ratepayers of the Parish. Payments were made by Isaac Dodd, referred to as Vestry Clerk but occasionally Parish Clerk. A few of those mentioned in the vouchers as receiving poor relief are Philip Bowman, Rebecca Dixon, Sarah Moor and Jane Sewell for child maintenance; and Thomas Gill and Edward Tinkler for house rent. William Hogg and Joseph Nelson received payments for providing board for the poor, and John Hutton for help when he was ill.
Voucher PR10/V/14/1 1 September 1788 Philip Bowman
Dodd’s name appears on numerous vouchers found between 1783 and 1786. He also received letters from the poor asking for help. One such letter in July 1790 came from William Turner of Whitehaven asking for 20-30 shillings so his daughter can start up a business in a small shop. He says that he is old and in ill health and a burden to her. His daughter was already struggling to maintain herself and her family. William said that he had asked the Parish Officer of Whitehaven for help but they contended that he did not belong to them. It is assumed they don’t think he has a ‘settlement’ in the parish. Therefore, he is writing to Isaac Dodd as he must believe his place of settlement is with Skelton. Notes at the bottom of the letter refer to a Barbara Nelson and that notice is to be taken of Frances Graham, presumably to help determine his case.
Parish Clerk
Isaac was appointed to the post of Parish Clerk by the then Rector, Rev’d Samuel Starkey (1747-1804) in January 1786 and continued [in the role] after the appointment of Rev’d Tovey Jolliffe (1750-1830) in 1791. In 1810 the Overseers of the Poor and Churchwardens Account Book records that he was paid £1 1s 0d a year. He also received payments for supplying communion wine £2 15s 0d and washing the church linen £0 5s 0d in 1805. His name appears in the account book on other occasions, recording the payments to parish poor and when attending the quarter sessions. Isaac’s name is also recorded frequently as a witness at weddings in the parish. It is not known if he received any payment for doing so. On the birth of his son in 1772 the parish register records Dodd’s occupation as a tailor. It was common for holders of parish officers to have a main occupation.
Family
Issac appears to have been born in Croglin, a small village about 14 miles from Skelton on the 13 August 1744. His siblings were Joseph (1739), John (1742) Thomas (1747-1747) Mary (1749), William (1752) and Elizabeth (1756). He married Rachel Allonby on 7 July 1768. On 28 September 1768 their daughter Ann was baptised but the same day Rachel’s death is recorded in the register. Ann survived only a few months after the death of short her mother, dying on the 14 January 1769. Isaac then married Mary [unknown surname] (c.1748-1797), although the record of the marriage cannot be found in Skelton parish. They had 4 children John (1771), Joseph (1772-1774), Mary (1776) and her twin Betty (1776-1801). Dodd’s second wife Mary died on 19 April 1797 aged 49. Five years later, in 1802 Isaac, now 56, married for the final time Esther Hutton aged 48.
In 1817 Isaac Dodd resigned from his role as Parish Clerk. His signature in the Account Book showing a deterioration in quality from earlier entries. Shortly afterwards he made a short will. It begins: ‘I Isaac Dodd of Skelton in the Parish if Skelton in the County of Cumberland being mindful of my mortality do hereby make publish declare this to be my last will and testament’.
He left any interest from his property to his wife as well as the residue of his personal belongings to her to distribute amongst his brothers and sisters and her brothers and sisters according to her own mind. No one is named. Isaac Dodd died 13 August 1818 and his will was proved on 19 September. His effects were less than £200.
An entry in the Parish Register of 1831 shows that an Esther Dodd aged 79 married a Thomas Mulcaster aged 75 of Croglin. It has been assumed this is Isaac Dodd’s widow.
This is a work in progress subject to change with further research.
Vouchers from Hayton Parish PR102/114/9-11 concern the purchase of textiles from Peter Dixon & Sons, Warwick Bridge.[1] The materials purchased included blue flannel, check, grey and black calico. Who the material was for is unstated, however, being of a darker cotton material, it was probably destined for the poor. Their clothes needed to be cheap, hard wearing and slow to show the dirt.
Voucher PR/102/114/10 Warwick Bridge Mill . Peter Dixon & Sons
The mill at Warwick Bridge was called Langthwaite Cotton Mill built in 1790 and run initially by brothers John, Richard and George Ferguson. John died in 1802 and in 1809 Richard and George, offered the mill’s lease to their brother-in-law Peter Dixon (1753-1832).[2] Peter, a merchant from Whitehaven, had married their sister Mary Ferguson (1762-1814) in 1783. [3] Dixon took on the lease with his sons John (1785-1857), Peter (1789-1866) and George (1794-1860). Dixon’s other children were Richard (b.1788) , Ann (b.1792), Robert (b.1793) Joseph F. (b.1795), Frances (b.1797) Mary (b.1798) and Sarah (b.1800).[4] The brothers Peter and John bought extra land in order to enlarge the mill and improve its access to a good water supply. They built new cottages and provided employment for those living in the local area as well as a few residing in the poorhouse. [5] Women and children employed in the mill were paid 3s to 10s depending on their age. Peter Dixon died in 1832 and the sons sought to expand the business further as the textile industry expanded overall. Peter Dixon jun. was the most influential in the running of the mill.
In 1834 the Dixons bought land in Duke Street, Carlisle. They also bought nearby shops and houses to let to their workers. The cotton mill in Shaddongate and the accompanying chimney were completed on 25 October 1836.[6] At the time the chimney was the highest in the country. The mill was powered by steam rather than water. Production continued at Warwick Bridge, although the Dixons did try to sell the mill, without success staying and building further workers cottages and a school.
What remains of Langthwaite Cotton Mill Warwick bridge. Photograph taken 14 February 2019 M Dean
The Dixons appear to have tried to look after their workers, for example, building and supporting the school in Shaddongate, Carlisle.[7] They set aside land at both Warwick Bridge and Carlisle for gardens giving an annual premium to those with the best cultivated ground. By 1843 there were 120 cottage gardens at Warwick Bridge. [8]. A church was built at Warwick Bridge at the Dixons’ expense with free seats [9]. Following an outbreak of typhus in Warwick Bridge and the neighbourhood, Peter Dixon jun. made a cash donation of £20 to the House of Recovery in Carlisle. [10]
The Dixons built and lived in substantial residences themselves. Peter and his wife Sarah Rebecca Clark lived at Holme Eden Hall, Warwick Bridge, built around 1840; John and his wife Mary T Stordy at The Knells near Houghton built in 1826 . George and his wife Mary Boucher lived at Tullie House, Carlisle, his father Peter having bought it in 1825. The Dixons were influential in the politics of Carlisle , Peter and George serving terms as Mayor. By 1847 they had a further 2 mills at Cummersdale and Dalston along with the mills at Warwick Bridge and Shaddongate. In total, the Dixons employed about 8000 people.
Peter Dixon died 28 April 1866 and was buried in the grounds of Holme Eden Church. The Carlisle Journal reported that many villages came to the church to pay their respects not only to someone who had spent a long life amongst them but who had also shown them true acts of benevolence. [11] By 1872 the cotton industry was less profitable. Proceedings were begun for the liquidation of Peter Dixon & Sons.[12] Peter Dixon’s estate was sold, including Holme Eden Hall and the workers’ cottages at Burnrigg near Warwick Bridge. [13] Cotton production ceased at Warwick Bridge but the Dixon’s continued for a short while as a new limited company involved in the completion process of the textiles from the Shaddongate factory.
Most of the mills and buildings the Dixons built still exist today being adapted for differing purposes. The largest of which, Dixon’s chimney, is still a well known local landmark with a small tweed mill nearby. Ferguson Brothers opened a Mill at Holme Head, Carlisle in 1824. That building also survives.
Dixon’s Chimney and Shaddongate Mill Carlisle Photograph taken 14 February 2019 M Dean
Sources
[1] Cumbria Archives. PR102/114/9, Hayton Overseers’ Voucher, 15 February 1833; PR102/114/10, Hayton Overseers’ Voucher, 3 December 1833; PR102/114/11, Hayton Overseers’ Voucher,12 January 1833
[2] Mawson D.J.W., 1976 Longthwaite Cotton Mill. Transactions of Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archeological Society p160-183
[3] Cumberland Paquet and Ware’s Whitehaven Advertiser, 9 September 1783
[4] www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed 15 February 2019
[5] Warwick Bridge and District Local History Group, Who worked at the Mill 1792-1845? (Open Doors Publishing, 2014)
[6] Carlisle Journal, 3 December 1836
[7] Carlisle Journal, 3 November 1838
[8] Carlisle Journal, 8 July 1843
[9] Carlisle Journal, 13 July 1844
[10] Carlisle Patriot, 10 December 1831
[11] Carlisle Journal, 8 May 1866
[12] The London Gazette, 19 July 1872
[13] The Whitehaven News, 17 July 1873
PR 10/V/12, Skelton Overseers’ Voucher, Elizabeth Wilson to Isaac Dodd, 25 June 1786
One of the vouchers from Skelton initially caused a bit of a puzzle. This was resolved when it became apparent that it was from Elizabeth Wilson to Isaac Dodd, the Skelton vestry clerk. This was not the only letter that Elizabeth had written to Isaac. Like Elizabeth’s previous letter, (see https://thepoorlaw.org/2018/12/29/elizabeth-wilson-fl-1785-1788/), this one, dated 25 June 1786, came from Kendal and was to be left at the Black Bull, Penrith.
It begins ‘I received the money but both genes was light’. Once more she was talking about guineas given to her and their validity. Their light weight was the source of her unease and the consequent effect this had on its monetary value.
The Guinea was minted in Britain between 1663 and 1814. It weighed approximately one quarter ounce of gold. Its value could fluctuate with the rise and fall in the price of gold. By 1717, however, its value was fixed at 21shillings. The guinea Elizabeth was given was most likely a George III guinea. During his reign these were issued in six different obverses and three reverses. From 1761 to 1786 the guinea showed a crowned shield on the reverse. In 1787 the guinea was called the ‘spade guinea’ referring to the crowns shield in the shape of a spade on the reverse.
It was the weight of the coin that concerned Elizabeth. These coins not only lost weight with wear but irregularity of shape meant they were the target of counterfeiters; clipping being one such offence. Pieces were shaved from the edge of the coin to melt down for the gold to be sold or made into other coins. Elizabeth was obviously aware of the problem of counterfeit coins. Warnings appeared in the newspapers of the time. The following appeared in the Newcastle Chronicle:
Counterfeit guineas are now in circulation in Whitehaven which seem to have been produced only a few days since. They are much thinner than the real guinea poorly relieved and so badly executed that they can pass upon none but the very ignorant.
In 1786 the Derby Mercury reported concerns about counterfeit copper coins being released into general circulation and the impact it would have on the lower classes. The Mayor offered a reward of five guineas for help in bringing those responsible to justice. Nearer to Skelton at a later date and at the instigation of the Mint, Richard Irving was prosecuted by Thomas Ramshay and received a sentence of six months hard labour for knowingly possessing counterfeit coins when arrested by Hesket Newmarket Poorhouse doorway. Previously he had been a husbandman of good character, but was now selling pots and living in camps at the hedge-sides.
Another profitable crime was that of ‘uttering’. This often involved a genuine coin or coins being swapped for a counterfeit one while making a purchase. Women were often involved in uttering or passing of bad coins. The notion being they were more easily trusted and able to dispose of the false coins.
Elizabeth Wilson’s upset seems to be directed at the coins she has been sent rather than any malice towards Isaac Dodd. She finished her letter: ‘My mother desiers (sic) to be remembered to you all so no moor[more] at present from your frend (sic) and well wesher (sic). However by November 1787 she is still having trouble with the weight of the guinea.
Sources
Cumbria Archives
PR 10/V/12, Skelton Overseers’ Voucher, Elizabeth Wilson to Isaac Dodd, 25 June 1786
Newspapers
Newcastle Chronicle, 4 August 1781
Saunders Newsletter, 20 September 1786
Derby Mercury, 19 December 1786
Carlisle Journal, 19 October 1839
Websites
www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0 March 2018 accessed 13/01/2019
Jane Sewell’s name appears regularly on the surviving vouchers for Skelton parish, between 1784 and 1788, usually receiving the sum of £0.19s.6d for the maintenance of her child. Sometimes the bills are signed by her father John or by her with her mark, a cross. Therefore, it is presumed Jane was not literate enough to sign. Jane’s name also appears on the list of those receiving payments in the Churchwarden and Overseers’ Account Book of 1788 (see Ann Stubbs). The payments being made by Isaac Dodd, Vestry Clerk.
Baptised on 3 May 1759 in Skelton parish, Jane was the daughter of John Sewell, a yeoman. She appears to have lived most of her life there. She was in Skelton when Rev Tovey Jolliffe purchased the place she occupied in 1820. (See the separate blog on Jolliffe). Jane had five siblings: Izilla (1760–1766); John (bap. 1763); twins, Timothy and Mary (bap. 1765) who both died within a few days; and Zillah (bap. 1766). Their father died on 17 April 1813.
Jane had 4 children Mary (bap. 1779), Henry (bap. 1784), Anne (bap. 1788) and Rachel (bap. 1793). The father of one is known. All baptized in Skelton. She actively sought financial assistance for her children. The Warrants for refusal to pay on Bastardy orders at Cumbria Archives reveal a letter written by William Wilson, Justice of the Peace, asking the Constables to summon the Overseers to explain why Jane has been refused relief.
William Wilson, letter PR 10/72-80 (74)
Whereas Jane Sewell of your parish hath this day made oath unto me William Wilson Esquire one of his majesty’s Justice of the Peace in and for the sd County that she the sd Jane Sewell is very poor and not able to provide for herself and Bastard Child and that the sd Jane Sewell did at several times apply to the overseers of the poor of the parish and was by them refused to be relieved. These are therefore to require you in his sd majesty’s name to summon two of the overseers of the poor of the sd parish to appear before me on Tuesday next at the house of Mrs Roper, Sun Inn, Penrith, in the sd county at the hour of eleven o’clock in the forenoon of the same day to show cause why relief should not be given to the sd Jane Sewell.
The letter is dated 28 September 1784. From the vouchers that have been found it appears Jane did eventually get her relief.
By 1793 Jane was once again seeking help for her children. Again through the jurisdiction of William Wilson.
As on the oath of Jane Sewell of Skelton in the said county of Cumberland single woman that on the seventeenth day of June last the said Jane Sewell was delivered of a female bastard child at Skelton and that John Nicholson of Skelton is the father of the said bastard child is now living and likely to become chargeable to the said parish of Skelton.
The Constables of the parish were ordered to bring Jane Sewell to Isaac Wilkinson’s house to be further examined while John Nicholson was also to attend to make his lawful defence. The putative father was responsible for the maintenance of illegitimate children, the parish authority releasing funds until the father could do so. In 1792 this was the case with Jane’s brother John Sewell. He was ordered first to pay £1.3s 6d to the Overseers of Skelton then £0.1s.9d weekly as he was adjudged to be the reputed father of Mary Jackson’s child.
Jane Sewell was buried at Skelton the 30 March 1823 aged 63.
jane Sewell claim against John Nicholson PR 10/72-80 (76)
Sources
Cumbria Archives Carlisle
PR 10/81, Skelton Oversees of the Poor and Churchwarden accounts book, 1734-1817
PR 10/72-80, Skelton Warrants for refusal to pay on Bastardy orders, 1779–1806
DCC 1/47, Deeds Mostly small properties in Skelton mainly sold to Thomas James and Thornbarrow (p. Hutton) and Penrith, 1736-1801 and to the Rev Tovey Jolliffe Rector of Skelton 1796-1820
